


we're in this together, no matter how unlikely

by itisjosh



Series: kenopsia [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Depression, Developing Friendships, Dubious Morality, Exile, Fluff, Gen, Ghosts, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Moral Dilemmas, Morality, Past Abuse, Past Violence, Redemption, Suicidal Thoughts, Trust Issues, Uneasy Allies, Unlikely Friendships, and gets friends :), the fic in which schlatt becomes an older brother
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27906109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itisjosh/pseuds/itisjosh
Summary: Schlatt planned on leaving the SMP after he realised that no one needed him anymore.Seems like he was wrong.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Jschlatt, Jschlatt & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Series: kenopsia [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043280
Comments: 37
Kudos: 624





	1. wanderlust

Schlatt listens to the snow crunch under Tommy's feet, silently walking next to him. Dream is in front of the both of them, he hasn't said anything for the past eight hours. Tommy looks exhausted - he's already stumbled and nearly fallen too many times. Schlatt keeps a steady hand on his shoulder, guiding him along as they walk. Tubbo's haunting half-smile stays at the forefront of his mind, and he feels nothing but guilt. Tommy stopped crying an hour ago, but his eyes are still red and puffy, and Schlatt..

He doesn't know how to feel. 

Tommy was his enemy, Tommy was _always_ his enemy. Tommy hated him, and for good reason. Schlatt doesn't think that Tommy ever stopped hating him, even when he only had Schlatt instead of Wilbur. And now, he has to live with the knowledge that Wilbur didn't come with him. Wilbur let Dream take him away, and he didn't try to stop it. Schlatt feels anger boil in his chest, and he pushes it down. He can't be angry right now. He has to keep a level head, he knows that. That doesn't mean he's any less pissed off. "Okay," Dream clears his throat, standing still. "We're far enough," he turns around to face them. Schlatt glares at him, tightening his grip on Tommy's shoulder. "Don't get any ideas," Dream leans in closer to Tommy, and Schlatt can see his jaw move as he speaks. "Just because you think he's-" Schlatt's hand flies out before he can stop himself, grabbing Dream by the collar of his hoodie. 

"I think you should get the fuck out of here," Schlatt sneers at him, pushing himself upwards. He towers over Dream, puffing out his chest. "You can't hurt me. I can kill you," Schlatt grins at him, leaning a little closer to his face. "Get the fuck out of here before I decide to kill you." 

Dream scoffs, tilting his head up. "You're not scary, Schlatt. You've never been scary," Dream turns away, shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket. "Get any ideas to come back, Tommy, and I'll kill Tubbo," he hums. "I'll make you watch. Bye." And then he's walking off, disappearing when he throws a Pearl. Schlatt watches his outline get dimmer and dimmer, fury bubbling in his chest. Schlatt should have just fucking killed him when he had the chance. 

"He's not going to hurt Tubbo," Schlatt looks over at Tommy, watching as he falls to his knees, hands buried in the dirt. Schlatt walks over to stand in front of him, crouching down. "Tommy. Listen to me," Schlatt doesn't know when Tommy started to be able to see him, but he's thankful for it. "Tommy. Look at me," Tommy does, slowly raising his head up. "We're going to be _fine_."

Tommy laughs, his voice cracking. Schlatt can see him start to tear up again. "We're not. I'm not. Tubbo, he just..he..I thought.." Tommy ducks his head, pulling his knees up to his chest. "He chose his country over me. I thought he'd.." 

"We'll figure it out," Schlatt moves to sit next to him, wrapping an arm around Tommy's shoulders. "We'll figure it out. We'll be fine. I can always go back to New L'manberg and knock some fucking sense into Tubbo. I'm dead, they can't hurt me. I'll get you back home, Tommy." The kid lets out a choked sob, turning so fast that Schlatt's surprised he doesn't give himself whiplash. He feels arms around him, and then Tommy's sobbing into his shoulder, his shoulders heaving. 

"I just want to go home," Tommy cries. "I just want to..I just.." 

"I know," Schlatt swallows, closing his eyes. He's never been good with this shit. He's never..he doesn't know what to do. "It's going to be okay," he murmurs. "You'll go home. You'll get to go back home. I promise."

"Wilbur didn't..he didn't..why didn't he.."

"I don't know," Schlatt tells him. He doesn't know if being honest is a good call or not, but he'll go with it. "I don't know," he admits. "Wilbur doesn't ever make sense. I'll talk to him, okay?" Schlatt breathes out, feeling his heart sink to his stomach. Tommy hated him. Tommy tried so hard to kill him, and now he's just..he's crying on his shoulder. Tommy always looked so strong, so unbreakable. Schlatt could almost forget that he was only a kid. A kid who got put into war too many times. "We'll figure it out. I'll get you back home."

Tommy doesn't say anything for a long time, just sobbing gently into Schlatt's shoulder. Schlatt lets him, and he ends up wrapping his arms back around Tommy. He doesn't know if ghosts give off warmth or not, but he hopes that he does. He always considered Tubbo a little brother, but now.. _fuck_. He doesn't know what to do. He's so used to always being prepared for everything, but now, he just doesn't know. He doesn't fucking know. "I'm scared." Tommy whispers. 

"I know," Schlatt murmurs back. "I'd be scared, too. But it'll be okay, yeah? It'll be okay, big guy. We've got this. We'll figure it out," he stares past Tommy's shoulder, watching as the sun slowly starts to rise. It had been the end of the day when they started to walk. God, so much fucking time has already passed. "Get some sleep, Tommy. We're not gonna fix this right now. You need to sleep." Tommy looks up at him, the bags under his eyes becoming so much more apparent. He nods once before he pushes himself up, stumbling towards a tree. He slouches against it, tilting his head back. Schlatt watches as he stares up at the sky.

"D'ya think Tubbo hates me?" Tommy looks towards him. There's no trace of pain or _anything_ in his eyes or on his face. There's just tiredness. Just exhaustion. "Be honest."

"No," Schlatt moves to sit next to him. "He's your best friend."

"Doesn't feel like it," Tommy murmurs. "Doesn't fucking feel like it."

Schlatt nods, looking up at the sky. He watches as the stars slowly start to disappear, watches as the dark blue starts to fade. He feels a sudden weight on his shoulder, turning to look at Tommy. He's passed out, his arms crossed firmly against his chest, his legs crossed. He's so fucking _small_. Schlatt never realised how young Tommy was until right now. "I'll get you home," Schlatt assures him, looking back to the sky. "Promise."

His thoughts of leaving the SMP slowly fade from his mind, replaced with a singular goal:

Get Tommy back home.


	2. allegiances

Schlatt walks behind Tommy, carefully scanning the mineshaft for any hint of it collapsing. He nearly died like that a few times, and he remembers losing a life to being fucking squished to death under tons of rocks. It was horrible, and he doesn't want to ever relive that. He stops walking, tilting his head to the side at a sudden creak. Schlatt glances above Tommy's head, and- _oh fuck_ -

"Careful!" Schlatt shouts, grabbing Tommy by the back of his shirt collar. He drags the kid a few metres back, watching as the mine in front of them starts to cave in. "Jesus Christ, Tommy," he breathes out, moving to stand next to him. Schlatt looks at him, staring at Tommy's eyes, his face. How he looks disappointed, how his eyes are longing to be just a little bit closer. "Tommy," Schlatt breathes in. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Tommy doesn't answer, he just keeps staring ahead. "Tommy.." Schlatt feels his heart sink to his stomach. He's never been good with this type of shit. He prefered logic and all that, not emotional drama. So Schlatt does what he figures will help - he pulls Tommy into a hug, listening to the kid start to cry. 

"I just want to go _home_ ," Tommy laughs, a hollow, bitter sound. "I don't want to fucking be here. Not with a ghost. I want _Tubbo_."

"We'll get you back home," Schlatt reassures him, closing his eyes for a second. He opens them, staring at the mess of the mine. If he had been a few seconds too late, Tommy would be dead right now. Tommy would be _dying_. It wouldn't have killed him immediately. There would have been nothing Schlatt could do other than watch. "You can't kill yourself, Tommy. I'm not going to let you do that," Schlatt tells him. "You don't get that option. I'm not letting you have that option. Not when we haven't even tried anything else. I'll get you back home, Tommy. I promised you that." 

Tommy sniffles, making a noise that sounds like some form of agreement. "I could have fixed it," Tommy murmurs. "I could have fixed it. I offered to fix it. I was going to go back and fix George's house for him, but he didn't..Tubbo never..he didn't let me.." he whispers. "I thought he understood. I didn't even do that much damage to it, I just..I just..I thought.." 

"I know," Schlatt murmurs. "I know." He remembers talking to Wilbur. He had caught the man in his little button room, but he never got rid of it. He realised at that point that there was no reason for him to destroy it. No good reason. He asked him if he thought that Tubbo and Tommy would end up like them. Wilbur used to be his best friend. Wilbur used to be the closest person to him in his entire life, and then everything changed. Schlatt doesn't know when it changed or why, but it did. Wilbur told him that they were better than they had been. 

_They're better than we had ever been. They'll make it._

_Are you sure?_

_Yeah. They love each other. They won't stop._

_Okay. Goodbye, Wilbur._

_Bye, Schlatt._

He shakes his head, clearing his mind of all thoughts of Wilbur. Wilbur didn't fucking..he didn't even go with Tommy. He didn't make a singular move to go with his brother. He left that all up to Schlatt. Of course he did. Schlatt isn't fucking surprised. It's Wilbur, after all. His motives have always shifted when people need him most. That's what he did to Schlatt. It's what he did to Tommy. He'll do it again. "Schlatt?" Tommy's voice is small, quiet. He sounds exhausted.

"Yeah, big guy?"

"Why is it you instead of Wilbur?" 

Schlatt smiles, pulling away from the hug. He holds Tommy at arm's length, his hands on the kid's shoulders. "Because I know how to fucking take a stand," he tells him. "Wilbur only does that shit when it benefits him. But," Schlatt clears his throat. "He could be plotting. I wouldn't put it past him. He might just need some time to get Tubbo to understand he fucked up. Tubbo might listen to him."

"He would listen to you," Tommy stares at him. "Tubbo would have listened to you. He loves you. He idolises you." 

"I'm sorry," Schlatt feels like he's been slapped in the face. "I shouldn't have stopped coming around."

"No," Tommy agrees, "you shouldn't have. But I get it," he turns away, closing his eyes. "I get it. Wilbur was around. I felt like that when..when Ranboo first showed up," Schlatt doesn't recognise the name, but he assumes that it was the newer looking kid he saw when Tubbo exiled his best friend. "Why would Tubbo want me when he has someone he likes more? Maybe he didn't like him more, but it fucking..it felt like it."

Schlatt nods. "You're a good kid, Tommy," he murmurs. "You're a good _person_ ," he smiles, tilting his head to the side. "Come on. Let's get the hell out of here." Schlatt's thankful that Tommy doesn't protest as he drags him out of the mineshaft. 

They'll figure this all out. Schlatt's sure of it. 

* * *

Things are significantly more difficult when Schlatt wakes up, feeling like someone new is there.

There is. 

Tommy is passed out on his right shoulder, and Quackity is passed out on his left. Schlatt stares ahead of him, completely unsure of how Quackity managed to find them, in the middle of the night, no less. Dream made them walk for so fucking long, and there's no way that..

Unless Quackity was following them the entire time. "Quackity," Schlatt murmurs, gently shaking his left shoulder. "Come on, big guy. Wake up," Quackity murmurs something back, his hair falling in his face. He looks weird without his beanie on. Schlatt doubts it's by choice that he doesn't have it on. " _Alex_ ," Schlatt tries instead, reaching up to flick the dumbass on the nose. "Come on, big guy. We need to talk." 

Quackity suddenly shoots back, scrambling away from Schlatt. "What? I'm sorry, I didn't.." 

Oh. 

Nightmare. About him, probably. Schlatt gently moves Tommy so he isn't laying on him, turning to face his old friend. "Quackity," Schlatt murmurs. "I'm not going to hurt you. Not anymore. Do you remember where you are?" Quackity stares at him, unblinking. "We're not in New L'manberg anymore," he continues. "We're out in the middle of nowhere. No one has been here before. You had to have followed us. You're fine." 

"Schlatt," Quackity breathes out, and Schlatt watches as he deflates a little. "I..sorry, I didn't mean to..freak out. I..I don't know, I just-"

"It's fine," he glances away, guilt stirring in his chest. It's his fault. All of it is his fault. Well, not all of it. It isn't his fault that he won the election. He can't blame himself for that. He can't change any of the past. All he can do is move on now, and all he can do is help everyone else. That's how he'll repent, right? How he'll make up for everything. He can do that. "Why are you here?" 

Quackity looks over at Tommy, looks back up to Schlatt. "What happened wasn't right," he mutters. "What happened to him was wrong. Tubbo told us that he wasn't going to exile him. He has to realise that we're not going to stand for this." Schlatt nods, tiredly smiling at him. Schlatt doesn't technically need to sleep, but lack of sleep still affects him like everyone else. 

"You're a good person," Schlatt tells him. "Did you follow us?" 

"Yeah," Quackity ducks his head. "Dream caught me on the way."

Schlatt stiffens. "He didn't let you just follow us without trying to kill you. Where did he hurt you?" Quackity raises an eyebrow at him, a small smile showing up on his face. "Quackity. I'm not fucking around. If it's an open wound, it'll get infected. I don't have a lot, but I can-"

"You really have changed," Quackity locks eyes with him. "Before, you.." he shakes his head. "Thank you."

"Don't say that," Schlatt rolls his eyes. "Don't thank me."

"Too late," Quackity grins, pushing himself off the ground. He sits down in front of Schlatt, turning his back to him. "He lashed me across the back, and I think he broke two of my ribs," Quackity tells him, all very cheerfully. "I'm in crippling fucking agony."

Schlatt sighs, dragging the fucker's shirt over his head. He winces when Quackity does, staring at the bruises. "I'm going to kill him," Schlatt sneers. "For everything that he's done. But especially this."

"It's fine," Quackity shrugs, gasping when he does. "Maybe it's not fine, actually. Fuck. It didn't hurt until you..mentioned it," he breathes out, slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just show up and..cause problems," he laughs, bitterly. "I'm a fucking-"

"Shut up," Schlatt reaches over Tommy to grab the back he brought, pulling out gauze and rubbing alcohol. "You're smart. You're clever. You're really fucking smart, Quackity. You're smarter than I am. You're a good person, you're good at talking to people and making friends. You're not stupid. You're not any of those things I called you," he pauses. Schlatt doesn't remember a lot of when he was drunk. Not clearly, at least. "Stop believing what I said back then. You can start believing me now." 

"You're.." Quackity turns his head, smiling at him. "You're a good person, too. You used to be fucking shit, but.." he laughs. "Now you're not. Thanks for that."

"Don't thank me for being a decent person," Schlatt reminds him. "This is going to sting. Here, actually," he pulls out a bundle of cloth from the bag, handing it to Quackity. "Bite down into this so you don't wake him up. He doesn't sleep that often," Quackity nods, and does as he's told. Schlatt pours a bit of alcohol onto the remaining cloth, breathing in. "I'm sorry, three, two-" he pushes the cloth to Quackity's back, wincing when he hears the man's muffled screams. "You're fine, you're doing great," Schlatt mutters. "You're doing fine." 

It takes about another twenty minutes before Schlatt is satisfied that Quackity isn't going to die to an infection. When he's done, Quackity all but drops into his lap, tears shining in his eyes from the pain. He looks exhausted. Schlatt doesn't move him off, he just lets his old friend lay there. Tommy ends up back on his shoulder, snoring softly in his ear. 

Schlatt doesn't know how the fuck he's going to figure all of this out, but he knows that he has to.

He's not going to fail anyone again. 


End file.
